Ottawa/IBNS: Months after stating that there is no guarantee Ottawa can evacuate Canadians if the situation deteriorates further In Lebanon, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said nearly 45,000 citizens are still stuck in the middle eastern country.

Expressing concern that attacks like exploding pagers would only make the situation worse, she told reporters in Toronto that Canadians avoid visiting Lebanon.

Since last October’s attack by Hamas prompting Israel to bomb Gaza, Hezbollah militants have been shooting rockets at northern Israel causing communities near the border to evacuate.

Israel retaliated strikes targetting Hezbollah infrastructure.

Joly had started urging Canadians since late last October to leave Lebanon, saying that the military was assessing how to conduct a possible evacuation of citizens if needed.

She had warned that the situation on the ground may not help them if things get worse.

On Friday, she specified how many people could end up trapped.

“We know that we have around 45,000 Canadians in Lebanon…We need to make sure that message (to leave) is clear…followed by Canadians…also, that were not well prepared.” she said and added that suffering in all parts of the region needs to end.

“We are gravely concerned about the reports that civilians, including children, have been killed or injured,” the Global Affairs Canada department has written following the pager explosions. “Canada is calling on all sides to avoid further escalations of violence and to protect civilians.”

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)